http://proxymatters.com Your trusted website for shareholder voting discussion Tue, 17 Mar 2009 14:15:49 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Pershing Square Capital Management is behind a push to replace five directors at Target. Run by William Ackman, Pershing previously tried to seat three directors on the board, after losing more than half of its investment value in the discount retailer.  Target's board rebuffed Pershing's effort, so Pershing is raising the ... http://proxymatters.com/2009/03/17/target-becomes-target/ The Wall Street Journal has an interesting article today detailing boards who are reducing their own pay. In addition to helping their companies save money and preserve liquidity, directors serving at companies at which the stock price has recently suffered may be more interested in surviving the upcoming round of shareholder lawsuits ... http://proxymatters.com/2009/03/16/cost-cutting-in-the-boardroom/ Ever wonder what your competitor is thinking? Fortunately, Chief Executive lays it out for shareholder rights activists.  In the magazine's November/December issue, true feelings are uncovered, with boards categorized as meddling, uninformed, self-indulgent... perhaps we should let you read this fine excerpt for yourself: "Boards are not the rubber stamps they once were. They are your new ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/12/29/oh-those-poor-ceos/ There is already a lot of speculation concerning executive pay legislation on Capitol Hill for 2009. Further adding to high expectations, Patrick McGurn of Riskmetrics went on record in December's issue of CFO Magazine: "We're fully expecting some form of shareholder bill of rights to come out within the first 100 days of Obama's ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/12/28/riskmetrics-obama-to-act-on-executive-pay/ Great article published online today from Fortune Magazine covering the ins and outs of "say on pay" and the prospects under a Barack Obama administration. Normally, articles on executive compensation are written by cheerleaders, openly campaigning for an obvious angle.  This article treads even ground and attempts to tackle a few sticky issues: "There are a ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/11/14/say-on-pay-vs-proxy-access/ John Schnatter, founder and chairman of Papa John's International, penned a mighty article in Saturday's edition of The Wall Street Journal, calling out the boards of investment banks and home equity lenders. "Behind the CEO of every Freddie Mac, Bear Stearns or Lehman Brothers who led their company down a path ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/10/26/papa-john-offers-fatherly-advice/ When the initial results from Yahoo's shareholder votes were released last Friday, much of the coverage was positive for CEO Jerry Yang and other board members... "Criticism Is Sparse" read one headline in The Wall Street Journal.  The article continued: Shareholders overwhelmingly endorsed the board, with Yahoo Chairman Roy Bostock receiving a ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/08/06/yahoo-coverage-revisited/ Capital Research Global Investors, which owns 7% of Yahoo, publicly questioned on Monday the validity of the announced results from Yahoo's shareholder vote.  And they were right to be skeptical. Capital Reseach and the Capital World Investors control a combined 17% of Yahoo's shares and recommended to its fund managers that they withhold votes ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/08/05/yahoo-shareholder-vote-disputed-altered/ Tremendous editorial on splitting Chairman/CEO roles appears today in The Wall Street Journal written by Gary Wilson.   In addtion to laying out several well-founded points supporting split roles, Wilson reveals a stunning statistic of which even we were unaware:  65% of S&P 500 companies have the same person employed as both Chairman and CEO.   Wilson's ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/07/09/chairmanceo-joint-duties-still-prevalent/ Shareholder activists have won the revolution... so says today's The Wall Street Journal. But let's not all fly off to Sardinia for that Kozlowski-like party yet. A superficial article on the front cover of Section C includes some statistics about more board seats won, more resolutions adopted, etc.  But nowhere does the author stop to ask, ... http://proxymatters.com/2008/07/08/the-revolution-is-over-oops-not-yet/